


Delta S

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drinking, Entropy is Fun Y'all Missing Out, Fluff, Fluff with a Sad Ending, High School, Kozume Kenma is a Good Friend, M/M, Minor Injuries, Non-Linear Narrative, Presents, Roadtrip, Volleyball Dorks & Nerds, Volleyball Dorks in Love, studying together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24855124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “Entropy. See it’s like the tendency for something to go towards chaos. It’s like how over time your pile of games grew from organized stacks to a pile of cases on the floor. Get it?” Kuroo explained.“So...like your hair?”Kuroo let out a scandalized gasp. “How dare you call my hair a result of entropy?
Relationships: Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Anonymous





	Delta S

>entropy<

noun: entropy; plural noun: entropies; symbol: Delta S

  1. a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system



⬖𝄋⬗

_Creak of the door._

Kuroo peeked in, at the stacks of books lined up at the base of his friend’s bed, all open to different pages with little to no correlation. Diagrams were all over the place and even more equations. “Whatcha working on? Didn’t expect you to call me over to study.” He settled himself down on the floor, eyes scanning through the pages facing him and taking quick mental notes.

“What does that even mean?” Kenma sighed, collapsing back on his bed, staring at the ceiling despite the fact he was supposed to be focusing. “I’ve been staring at this page for the last thirty minutes and it just makes no sense. Figured you’d know so called you over.”

Kuroo peered at his friend from his position on the floor. “C’mon it’s science. I’ll help you, come down here.” He yanked lightly at the cuffs of Kenma’s pants until the other drooped down onto the floor, slipping off the bed like a slug. “Entropy. See it’s like the tendency for something to go towards chaos.” After a short ramble of how that worked, which turned out was way too complicated, he was interrupted by a groan.

“Still makes no sense. Not everyone gets what is this? Chemistry? Physics? This, as well as you.”

“Fine fine, let me think. It’s like...”

He glanced around Kenma’s room for examples

“Like how over time your pile of games grew from organized stacks to a pile of cases on the floor. Or how it’s easy to throw clothes on the floor when you come back from school, but it's much harder to clean it all up and hang it in the closet. Get it?”

“So...like your hair?”

Kuroo let out a scandalized gasp. “How dare you call my hair a result of entropy? It's _perfectly_ in order, excuse you. I style it very gently every night.”

“Mhmm,” Kenma hummed in doubt, already losing attention on the lesson and taking out his phone, tapping away at likely another game. Kuroo sighed in defeat, leaning back till his back met the bed’s support, letting the other drape themselves over his legs. 

“So we aren’t studying after all?” Kuroo murmured, carding his fingers through Kenma’s hair. “Isn’t the test coming up? Will you be fine just gaming all day? I mean nothing against that but--”

Kenma nodded twice, restoring back to nonverbal communication as Kuroo noted.

“Mhmm, I guess we can stay like this for a while,” Kuroo mused out loud, already getting a little too comfortable with the position. It was far too relaxing, allowing his mind to wander off, half of it paying attention to whatever game Kenma was playing and the other half going everywhere from what he was eating that night to what classes he had the next week. 

His hand movements must’ve tightened as the other sensed something was off in where those thoughts were heading. Kuroo felt a vibration run through his leg as the other boy spoke.

“You’re thinking too hard.” Kenma muttered from his position.

Curious eyes looked down. “You know me too well, kitten. I’m just thinking, I mean rather I’m wishing that these days could continue always. Just us, laying here without a care in the world, you know?”

A few clicks on the phone later, the device turned off, Kenma staring back up.

“What’s stopping that from happening?”

⬖𝄋⬗

_The lazy thrum of music._

Kuroo tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, listening to the radio mindlessly. To be fair, they were still in the garage, so it wasn’t as if he was driving recklessly. Plus, the car was still warming up. In fact, he was just waiting for Kenma to get ready as they were going to a high school reunion party.

No idea who decided it, but they were camping in the forest, which somehow felt like a Yamamoto idea. Nonetheless, Kenma complained for a day about missing his daily logins since they were going off the grid before he finally conceded, leaving his gaming device behind and getting into the car. Just by a side look, Kuroo could tell the other was in a pouty mood.

“C’mon, we’ll be back before you know it.” Kuroo smiled reassuringly. “Promise I’ll get you home.”

Tired eyes looked back at him. “Mhmm, I’m napping, wake me up when we get there. Plus, you sure are getting both of us home, we live together, dumbass.”

“Best decision of our lives, I say.”

He was met with silence, so Kuroo assumed the other had actually drifted off. A quick glance at a red light confirmed his suspicions. Arms crossed over a hoodie, his boyfriend laid there, drifting off, head swaying slightly to the right. Of course Kenma was bound to be tired after spending the whole night gaming, Kuroo thought critically, writing a mental note to not disturb the other.

But how could he when his kitten looked so cute sleeping as he drove, the sunlight grazing his face. How could he scold the love of his life like that?

So instead, the soft buzz of the radio music kept him company as he hummed along to the songs, following the lanes of the road onwards, towards the hills and the sun. It was still midday, the sun casting rays right in above them. And gradually, the sun came behind them as time passed.

A stir in the passenger seat caused Kuroo to pause his humming. “Awake, pudding-head?”

Through a sleepy groan, Kenma muttered, “What time is it?”

“About two now. We left home around noon. Hungry?” He didn’t even wait for a reply as he nodded towards the glove box. Kenma, despite being still drowsy understood the note, opening it up and grabbing something to nibble on.

“We almost there?”

Kurooi nodded, going back to humming the song on the radio, eyes focusing on the road ahead of him. Pausing at the highway exit, he calmly stated, “About ten more minutes, you good?”

“Mhmm,” Kenma replied, eyes darting from staring at the raven back to the road and then to the radio speakers. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I love this song.”

“Sing it for me then.”

Kenma laughed, bringing a smile to Kuroo’s face as he did exactly as asked, singing along with the chorus as Kuroo hummed in background music. Beautiful was the only word that came to Kurro’s mind at the point. How lucky he had been to have the other in his life.

“I love you, Kenma.”

“Park first, hm?” Kenma smiled softly as they rounded the parking lot for the campsite. Never had Kuroo parked so fast and accurately at the same time, head swiveling over as soon as he shifted the gears. On signal, Kenma pressed a soft kiss on his lips. “Love you too, Tetsu.”

They stared fondly into each other’s eyes for a while.

“C’mon, the rest of the team will worry about us if we stay too long.” Grinning, Kuroo walked over to the passenger door, opening it in an arc and holding Kenma’s hand tenderly. 

Hands clasped, they walked into the campside with their bags, being met pretty soon by the rest of their team that teased them gently about their relationship before letting them set up their camping equipment and settle around the campfire, surrounded by all their friends once more.

Someone began a toast, “To Nekoma.” With that, everyone cheered, glasses lifted. Through this, Kuroo shifted his eyes towards Kenma, who was cheering along. Maybe camping once in a while couldn’t hurt. But even so, this night remained ingrained in his memory forever. 

Kuroo remembered grinning so hard his face hurt, yet illuminated by the crackling campfire, the universe spinning behind them seemed to move for them.

⬖𝄋⬗

_Scape of a wooden chair against tiled floors._

“Kenma? Lunch?” Kuroo pestered, scooting out the chair in front of his childhood friend’s and flipping it so they were both facing the same desk. “It’s like lunch break, come on, are you going to buy lunch or did you bring something to eat?”

Kenma put down the pencil he was spinning. “Brought lunch. What about you?”

“Same.” Kuroo yawned, stretching his legs under the table, knocking into a smaller pair of legs there. “Let’s eat here?” A hum of confirmation.

On cue, Kuroo took out his lunch, boxed neatly in a bento box. Opening it up, he looked hungrily at the meal, clasping his hands together and saying thanks for the meal before digging into the food. Between bites, Kuroo looked up to find eyes following his movements closely.

“Whatcha looking at?”

“Nothing in particular,” Kenma muttered, eyes dipping back into his meal, taking significantly smaller bites than the other boy, practically nibbling on his rice. “Just wondering how you can eat so quickly I guess? I don’t know, ignore that thought.”

Kuroo laughed, snorting. “You make it sound like you aren’t an athlete yourself. Don’t we have fast metabolism? I mean we do, after all, practice lots--”

“Ugh, we’re on break, must you talk about sciency stuff again.”

The raven rolled his eyes. “It’s not even that bad, please. Let me embrace the knowledge. There is so much to know about life, y’know like that salmon you’re eating. Good source of Docosahexaenoic acid or in short, DHA. It’s just these little facts that everyone loves me for.” 

“Want some doco-- whatever you just said.” Kenma deadpanned, reaching out his chopsticks to which Kuroo gladly accepted the food, chuckling a thanks as he ate directly from it. “Now is that brain of yours satisfied with this science talk?”

“Hm...” Kuroo mused, wiping his mouth. “Not quite, but my stomach sure is satisfied. Full.”

Kenma eyed the clock and then the empty box in front of Kuroo warily. “How does one even eat so much...so quickly while also yammering on about fish?” He sighed, looking at his half-eaten lunch, both of them knowing it probably wouldn’t be finished anyway.

“Hey, you’re probably just not active enough, wanna head down to the gym and get some sets in before lunch ends? It’ll help your appetite.” Kuroo suggested graciously, knowing both of them often overthought things. He thought too much when left in silence and Kenma when he didn’t have something to do with his hands. That's why the shorter often carried around a gaming console, which was not permitted during school hours. It was something they accommodated subconsciously for one another.

“Yeah, that’ll be nice...”

With his telltale grin, the raven rushed through the high school halls, cheering as they entered the gym and he took out a volleyball from the bin, rotating it in his hands to get a feel for it.

“Set for me, pudding head?” Kuroo prompted, throwing the ball over, ruffling the other’s hair in the process, engraving how it felt in his brain. A nod from the setter as they began their practice, falling back into a flow that became muscle memory. 

The leftover meal was cold when they returned.

⬖𝄋⬗

_Kuroo waves his hand, eyes peering over the counter._

“Kenma, I’m here to pick you up!”

Keyboard clacks came from the other room, prompting Kuroo to wander inside the area, noticing filming lights set up within. The screen was lit up with mostly the game that was streaming, the chat on the side and a small video of Kenma’s camera angle in the corner.

The streamer seemed to be quite focused on his task, so Kuroo settled himself to a beanbag chair at the side of the room, silently rooting for his boyfriend.

Kenma seemed to be narrating his game movements, silent comments on his strategy and such until the telltale words of victory appeared on screen. He set his controller down, looking to the side. “Want to come on screen? The chat heard your voice and they’re curious.”

“Hm? Sorry, didn’t know you were streaming, _Kodzuken_.” Kuroo teased, settling down.

A fond smile. “Don’t worry about it, you’re not interrupting. I was the one running behind the streaming schedule. Say hi to the viewers.”

“Kuroo’s back in the house! Hey, I’m like the luckiest man alive to have this kitten as my significant other,” he grinned into the camera, earning a few cheers from the chat. It wasn’t the first time he was on the stream, but the other times they didn’t stay online for long after, always being cut short by something, whether it be a booked dinner or a college class Kuroo had to attend, they were always interrupted. Therefore he never had the chance to speak with the people that seemed to love Kenma’s videos so much.

Luckily, that was not that case today. Kuroo had come by to pick the other up for a date, but it was more of a spontaneous dinner situation. In fact, he was early if anything.

As if reading his thoughts, Kenma glanced at the screen, almost warily, “Since we finally have some time, any questions for Tetsu or both of us? Maybe three questions?”

>How long have you two been together?

>How’d you two meet?

The chat continued on forever, but Kenma quickly picked out the first two quick questions with ease as Kuroo’s eyes practically whirled at the chat speed.

“We’ve been together for about three years? We’ve always been close childhood friends. This fool confessed to me by the end of high school. Finally. And we’ve been together since then.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes playfully. “Okay, mock me all you want, but my confession was flawless.”

“Yeah I’ve never seen anything with _that_ many detours.”

“H-hey, I have no idea what you mean,” the raven pouted, turning away from the camera to hide his giggles. The chat seemed to go wild at their interaction as Kenma reached over, whirling Kuroo back to face the screen with a snort. The hand stayed on his shoulder.

>Are you two considering marriage?

Kuroo choked, internally cursing the comment for reading his thoughts. “Hey, no need to rush things you know um.” He scratched the back of his head nervously. “I mean, I guess we’ve talked about it but we haven’t settled anything yet so!” He winked, hand reaching forward to cover the camera lens. “Next time~”

Sensing the end, Kenma quickly voiced his outro before turning the camera off, turning to face Kuroo.

“Interesting reaction. So?” Kenma teased.

“Nothing, my kitten,” the raven smiled softly, cusping the other’s face in his hands, pressing a quick peck on to the other’s lips. “Shall we get going? Dinner?”

Kenma laughed, “Sure, where to tonight? Surprise me?”

“Is that a challenge?” Kuroo raised an eyebrow in amusement. “You’ll be surprised all right.” He took Kenma by the hand, lingering for a few seconds for Kenma to shut down his computer, the screen fading into bubbles much like a lava lamp. It caught Kuroo’s attention for a second. 

It almost looked like water and oil splitting.

⬖𝄋⬗

_A drink set in front of him. He stares at it for a while._

“Thank you,” he says automatically. His hands clenching the bottle too tight, threatening to break it all. 

Golden eyes peered at him, waiting, silently boring holes into him.

Kuroo sighed, leaning back onto the bench behind their gym. “Don’t look at me like that. I apologized already, m’kay? It’s really fine, I swear. One week rest and I’ll be back and playing, promise. C’mon, I can’t bear to see you looking so...” he paused, thinking of the right word to describe the grimace on the other’s face. “I’m the one injured because I was careless, you don’t need to be the one looking hurt.”

Kenma looked away, turning without a warning and walking away. 

“Hey wait--” Kuroo called at the receding figure, only to be hushed by another hurt look. “Fine.” He sighed, frustrated by himself, pulling his non-injured leg to his chest, wrapping his arms around it and fiddling with his fingers. It was truly an accident, probably a few extra nights studying and alongside everything else, he must have taken a wrong step and strained his leg. It was truly nothing new for an athlete, but new for him.

The pain shot through him on the first step, but sitting down like now, it didn’t feel like much.

A familiar line interrupted his thoughts. “You’re thinking too hard, again. I left for five minutes, must you start wandering through your mind?”

“Kenma?” The raven looked up curiously but was just met with an ice pack in his face. “Gah, that’s cold. My face is alright, please spare my beautiful face--”

“Ice it.” Kenma nodded at his leg, settling down next to him, reverting back into his blank face.

Kuroo obliged, hissing as the ice touched his skin. “It’ll be fine,” he repeated. “It’s not even your fault, you don’t need to do this. Go back to practice--”

“I’m staying.”

Kenma pulled out his phone, beginning to tap away at something as Kuroo asked, hesitantly. “Why?”

“We’re friends. That’s what friends do, care for one another, isn’t it? Same reason why you’re always there to pick me up every fall I have, literally and figuratively. Right?”

A nod, keeping his thoughts unheard. _I care for you more than friends should._

“I care about you, I worry about you, I don’t like to see you hurt. That’s it.” Kenma concluded.

“That’s deep,” Kuroo grinned, poking Kenma’s arm teasingly. “And here I was thinking you were going to leave me all alone on this bench. But my kitten came back home.” Kenma raised an eyebrow as if asking where that thought of him leaving came from. “Hey, to be fair, you didn’t say anything. I was _worried,_ y’know, how you say friends should be.”

“Stop talking and get some rest.” Kenma sighed, tapping his legs invitingly. “I can practically see your eyebags from late night studying.”

Kuroo groaned, laying down. “Don’t bully me, exams are important.”

“I know. And you always put your heart into everything.”

“You’re flattering me,” Kuroo laughed, “I do nothing of the sort, I am just a diligent student who very much needs to study to achieve my goals. It’s normal.” He didn’t receive a response, so he took it as a sign to actually get a little rest. Shifting his head around one last time, figuring out a position to get him at least a little moment of ease, he began to drift.

The soft whistle of wind through his hair alongside the tiny clicks from some game, he could really be at ease there. Eyes fluttered closed, he felt himself drifting for a few seconds.

“Should we get them back in?” A not so hushed whisper reached his ears, which was shut quickly by the sound of that voice being dragged into the gym and some other not so hushed voices calling for them to take their time and some silent cheers.

Kuroo laughed, “Teammates, can’t live with them, can’t leave without them.” He takes one final glance downwards to the injury before drifting off again.

The ice was melting, slowly dripping water off the edge of the bench.

⬖𝄋⬗

_Just one more._

“Ahaha,” he cheered, finding one last penny in the depths of his wallet and handing it over to the cashier. “That should be the last one!”

The woman counted through his money, counting them up in confirmation before handing over his purchase. “Do you need a bag for your purchase?”

“Nah, got one right here,” Kuroo replied, lifting a white bag in proof.

“Very well. Thank you for your patronage. Have a good day!”

With a smile, he picked up his shopping bag and proceeded out, adding it to the other item in his bag. Only once outside, he settled down at a table and counted his change, putting the receipt into his wallet. His wallet was nothing out of the ordinary, just a thin black one with no particular design. The back held bills, the coins in a pocket on the side. The only thing of significance was his identification card and a wholesome picture of him and Kenma in the picture holder. 

They were both donning full smiles after their first date to the movies. One of Kuroo’s hands was holding up the phone and the other holding Kenma’s hand up to the screen. Not going to lie, everyone who saw it thought it was extremely wholesome.

 _Ding_. “Ah, phone phone phone, where is my phone?” Kuroo muttered under his breath, searching in all his numerous pockets, quickly answering the call once he found it. “There we go, what--”

“Tetsu, where’d you go?”

“Ahaha, how nice to hear from you, Kenma. I just went to pick something up, I’ll meet you home soon. Give me like five minutes, I’m leaving now.”

A pause from the other side of the line. “Pick something up?”

“You’ll see soon enough. Love you. Bye.”

He tapped the red button to hang up, hearing a faint “love you too” before the screen reverted to his home layout. Satisfied with his purchase, he rushed back home in record time, while still following the traffic laws because he was, for sure, a law abiding citizen. 

Humming alongside the radio as he pulled in the driveway, he saw Kenma waiting there, leaning on the doorframe. “What do you have there?”

Silently, he slipped one of the boxes into his pocket. That was for later.

“Okay, okay hear me out. It’s not much but, this is a gift for you and I want you to enjoy this without worrying too much, okay? I just want to show you all my support because you mean everything to me.”

A suspicious nod. 

“So without further ado, you may open it. Be careful though.”

Slender fingers reached to tug at the flaps of the box, which was quite small in size, only about the size of a small book. And even further, he reached in, eyes lifting in surprise. “Oh my god, Tetsu how did you know I was looking at these? You--” he pointed a finger at Kuroo. “Did you look through my computer again?”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Kuroo grinned. “You gave me your password, please spare me. I just thought it was so cool and if you wanted it, why not get it _customized_ too?”

“They’re perfect.” Kenma whispered, putting them over his head. A wireless headset sat there, the certain kind that was particularly hard to find because instead of going into the ear, they rested in front of it, sending vibrations that held better sound quality and allowed the wearer to grasp their surroundings. And even more beautiful was the custom decoration, adding a silver rim with his username inked in black text. “I can’t even imagine how you got this done, holy--”

Kuroo smiled, fingers trailing the device. “It really is beautiful. I haven’t even seen it yet, but on you, it looks perfect. I worked my connections, had to wait a few weeks, but this was worth it.”

“Thank you, I’m just at a loss for words.”

Fingers ran through Kenma’s hair. “No need for words, I know.” Kuroo leaned forward, lightly holding Kenma’s wrist and putting it to his ears. “Can hear it.”

“Sappy much?” Kenma whispered, tapping a song to que on the device and playing it, beginning to softly sing the lyrics. The song he loved so much. With that set, he put his phone down, instead opting to wrap his restless hands around the other’s body in an embrace.

“You’re not typically one for hugs, what’s new?”

“Just felt pulled here, _randomly_.”

⬖𝄋⬗

_And here we are. By chance._

“Sir, I think you’ve drank enough.”

Blurry eyes looked up from the counter, to the drink in his hands. Ah, how did he end up here? Kuroo glanced around the bar, eyes squinting to grasp his bearings. There was steady music playing from the speakers and he sat on a wooden stool. He must’ve waved the bartender over quite a few times, judging from the pounding in his head and his lack of senses. 

“I’ll be alright,” he muttered in return, the words probably turning out more slurred than he intended.

The man on the other side of the counter sighed, running a hand through ginger hair. “We’re about to close, if you want to let it all out, I’m here to lend you an ear. If not, call me over and I’ll get a cab for you.”

Kuroo sensed the bartender leaving by the clack of footstep, but midway, he began to spill everything, not quite knowing why he trusted this stranger. “Childhood friend turned into boyfriend and then to be fiance. I mean would fiance if he was still here.” 

The one box he never showed Kenma was of course, the ring. Tears pricked at his eyes, he probably came in the bar crying anyway, considering how his eyes felt raw already.

“What happened to him?” Slanted, possibly hooded, eyes looked at him. 

“I let him go. Back to this mess of a world. Back to where I won’t find him here, in the city of Tokyo. Back to somewhere I won’t see him again for a while.” Kuroo laughed dryly. “I fucked everything up, let him get hurt. Wasn’t there for him like he was for me. Never needed me to keep him grounded. Thought I tamed a kitten, instead ran into the lion’s cage. He’s free now, probably at peace. I dunno.”

The bartender stood there, blank faced. “I’ll call you a cab, where are you staying?”

Kuroo rattled off an address somehow. Staring warily at the door. “I loved him dammit. He probably did too. Maybe he loved me more but I’ll never know.” He opened his wallet, slipping some bills over for his tab, his eyes lingering at the picture of him and a scribbled out person in the picture holder.

Eyes watering again, he picked himself up, stumbling over to the door, waving goodbye to the bartender as he got into the hailed cab. His tears dripped onto the picture, smearing the black ink and revealing blonde and brown hair. Kuroo choked back a sob.

“The universe was the system that took you away from me.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the end...I'm sorry okay, I just really love "fluff with a sad ending". I'm trying my best okay. It's also late at night now and I'm tired, so please feel free to correct my grammar/spelling in the comments. Or just leave a comment telling me how mean I am. 
> 
> While I think entropy is pretty neat, I am not a reliable source for this. I studied chemistry (coughs in biochem major), but I am mostly referring "chaos" here, not the whole thermodynamic principle. 
> 
> I tried to make the first line each part of present timeline, last line reference to entropy. It's hard to catch first read, but that was my basis. Being drunk just sounded like such a chaotic thing, so I added that alongside how well it fit with the nonlinear narrative. Bartender is referenced to be Taichi Kawanishi btw because he actually is a bartender--
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
